Plough On: striking the right chord

Before writing this piece, I looked back at a note I’d written for the board of The Agricultural Trust explaining what the proposed “woman’s conference” was all about. I said it was about getting to know our women readers better and understanding what content they wanted in Irish Country Living.

It was a good reason for a conference 13 years ago and remains so to this day.

I have so many wonderful memories of the conferences.

But my greatest pleasure was seeing farm women who had never spoken in public before and who were full of nerves, go on stage and hold their audience of 600 women spellbound. This was what it was all about; this connection with our readers and the connection between our readers and like-minded women.

I loved that so many farm women marked the conference as their annual special event, coming to it the night before and staying on for a second night. It seemed such a good idea that we decided to put on an event the night before so as to encourage those from long distances to travel. The first of these overnights took place in the Knightsbrook Hotel, Co Meath.

We hoped to have about 90 women attend and had booked a room to hold that many with a finger food menu. To our huge surprise, the numbers hit 100 in jig time and kept growing until we had over 300 booked to attend.

Fair dues to the hotel. They set up the conference hall as it would look for a big wedding, with flowers, crystal and chair covers. You’ve seen nothing until you’ve seen a dancefloor packed with women giving it welly.

Over the years we brought great speakers to the conference, such as Dr Paddy Wall who told us that farmers were in the health business and Dr Maureen Gaffney who taught us how many positive thoughts we need to thrive.

More recently, Vicky Phelan engaged the audience in the same way. The economist David McWilliams was a huge crowd-pleaser as were the rugby-playing Kearney brothers. So too were succession planners Lyn Sykes and Sian Bushell. We hit on the idea of pre-lunch entertainment early on and there was nothing like hearing 600 women shout for more as Mike Denver got the jivers dancing or when the Willoughby Brothers belted out Where the Blarney Roses Grow. Great memories.

I look forward to attending the next conference and I know that with Amii McKeeveand her great team and, above all, our wonderful supporters, it is in safe hands.

Katherine O’Leary shares her memories of Women & Agriculture conferences

The Women & Agriculture conference sparked something in rural women. It was all about them and they relished it. Mairead Lavery, then editor of Irish Country Living, recognised the enormous opportunity to make it an annual event. Her team supported her wholeheartedly.

We sought to inspire, to educate and to celebrate women in agriculture and business. We endeavoured to find the best speakers to give women access to knowledge. Women told us they were inspired to alter a life path, to follow a dream or being empowered to cope better with life’s challenges.

Over the years, we’ve had numerous speakers that motivated women to organise and examine their lives and their farming businesses. Women have been encouraged to take an active role in solving the everyday problems down on the farm and in the farmhouse.

Managing the dynamics of the family from succession planning to coping with adversity is part of every families’ story. Speakers detailing real-life personal stories helped women to go home with a new resolve.

My favourites

The speakers who helped me to flourish over the last decade are many.

Maureen Gaffney, clinical psychologist, was always engaging with her take on family and rural life. I carry with me her goals for happiness. We are advised to have three main projects ongoing in our lives to bring focus and fulfilment. It also gets things done.

Harrowing story

In 2014, Jenny Kent, proprietor of the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel, told us about her late husband Bobby who got early onset Alzheimer’s disease. It was a harrowing story filled with love. Aged 58, Bobby no longer recognised Jenny or his children. She warned us not to sweat the small stuff and to live in the moment.

Over the years, we’ve had numerous Women & Agriculture award winners with stories of dogged determination and resulting success.

Margaret Farrelly of Clonarn Clover started out with 150 hens. Today, the business has 160,000 hens and produces and packs 48m eggs a year.

In 2018, Mairead passed the baton to Amii McKeever, current editor of Irish Country Living, and our conferences seamlessly continued. I’m sad that we will not have the opportunity to get together this year. But never fear, we will have amazing stories to tell at the next conference.

The Breens

The Breen family from Limerick are enthusiastic about Women & Agriculture, with as many as 10 of the family attending in any given year.

“From day one, I loved the conference,” says dairy farmer Mary Breen said. “It’s the highlight of my year and that of my extended family. My sisters now come as well as our daughters and daughters-in-law.”

While Mary loves the craic, she will never forget Diane Banville’s contribution.

“Diane brought us back to St Patrick’s Day 2015. That morning, her husband Kevin took time to have fun on the trampoline with their 17-month-old son, while Diane organised their baby, who was just five months old.

“The plan was for the family to go to the parade but, first, Kevin had a job to do in the farmyard. Tragically, he was killed in a farmyard accident.”

“You could hear a pin drop and there wasn’t a dry eye in the hall. Diane impressed on everyone the need for farm safety and how essential it was that the names of wives or partners were on the bank and herd numbers.”